Free Flight: Old-Timers
Bill Baker 1902 Peter Pan Norman, OK 73072
Bob Beecroft's 1990 Texaco Winner
In my last column (January) there was a photo of Bob Beecroft's 1990 United States Free Flight Champs 1/2A Texaco winner. Free Flight Texaco events are fairly rare, needing fine weather and open space. Rules tend to be set by the local club, so they vary somewhat—and vary greatly from the popular RC 1/2A Texaco rules, which SAM has somewhat standardized.
Beecroft's SAM-powerhouse has a 56-inch span (larger than allowed by RC rules) and uses a rotary-valve engine rather than the reed-valve engines required by RC rules. Key details:
- Engine components: Cox TD crankcase and shaft; Kim Kraft needle valve and TD venturi (stock); Cox Texaco Special piston, cylinder and head; Cox muffler.
- Exhaust is routed through tubing to the bottom of the cowl to minimize residue on the model.
- Engine is mounted on a special tank mount designed by Sal Taibi (Sal also supplied the design, plans, ribs and sticks).
- Propeller: APC 7x4.
- Runs seven minutes on 15 cc of Byron fuel with 10% nitromethane.
Bob even installed an instrument panel, though he wryly notes, "Sal is the pilot; I just ride in the back seat." Questions or correspondence can be sent to:
- Bob Beecroft, 1014 Daisy Ct., Carlsbad, CA 92009-4846
- Sal Taibi (plans etc.), 4339 Conquista Ave., Lakewood, CA 90713
Suppliers and Parts
- Kim Kraft needle valves and many specialized competition items for Old-Timer and modern fliers are available from Kustom Kraftsmanship, P.O. Box 3010, Fallbrook, CA 92028. Their catalog is $1 (see their ad in this issue).
- Balsa Products Engineering, 122 Jansen Avenue, Iselin, NJ 08830, offers three kits of interest:
- Playboy Sr. (original size; SAM-legal for FF and RC)
- Buzzard Bombshell (original size; SAM-legal for FF and RC)
- Brooklyn Dodger (scaled for RC to 130%, giving a 71-inch span)
The postpaid price is $69. Modern kits include rolled plans, shaped leading edges, machine-cut formers and ribs, laminated stabilizer outlines, and higher wood selection standards compared to earlier kits.
Cottage Industry List
OFB Jim O'Reilly maintains a Cottage Industry list on his home computer with the names, addresses, phone numbers and products offered by the many garage/basement part-time makers who supply Free Flight parts. He updates it periodically, pruning those who no longer answer and adding new names. Send a dollar and a No. 10 SASE to obtain the list.
Newsletters
Below are several newsletters and contacts that keep you informed about Free Flight activity regionally:
- Thumb Print (Thermal Thumbers of metropolitan Atlanta)
- Editor: David Mills
- Address: 10D Pine Circle NE, Atlanta, GA 30305
- Cost: $6 for six issues per year
- Notes: General interest club newsletter with much Old-Timer activity; good for Southeast fliers.
- Florida Old-Timers' Association Newsletter
- Editor: Terry Rimmert
- Address: 367 Orange Ave., Baldwin, FL 32234
- Cost: $4 per year for six issues
- Notes: Covers Free Flight (including CL), Old-Timer (pre-WWII) and Nostalgia ('50s) events; often reprints old magazine articles or plans.
- The Flyoff (Sky-Scrapers, est. Brooklyn, NY 1936)
- Editor: R. L. Hatschek
- Address: 316 Grosvenor St., Douglaston, NY 11363
- Cost: 10 issues for $10
- Notes: Contest schedules, news, original plans and articles. Walter Rozelle contributes articles on Nostalgia Gas.
- TOPMAC (Topeka Model Aircrafters' Club)
- Contact: Jack Koehler
- Address: 3425 S.W. Arrowhead Road, Topeka, KS 66614-3845
- Cost: $10 per year
- Notes: Free Flight-oriented with strong Indoor leanings; covers FF action within driving range of Topeka, KS (and when the wind is right, that can be a very long range indeed).
- Flightplog (Southern California Ignition Flyers — SCIF)
- Editor: Ken Sykora (also operator of Oldtimer Model Supply)
- Oldtimer Model Supply catalog: 6716 Noble, Van Nuys, CA 91405 (send a couple of dollars)
- Newsletter subscription: $7 to Larry Clark, 3626 Camden Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027
- Notes: Old-Timer focused; each issue typically includes a full page of photos by R. J. Mikkelson, a plan of the month reprinted from old magazines, and Ken's editorial essays (he calls himself "King Sugar").
Reflections on Free Flight
Today's Free Flight scene has something for everyone — from the easygoing hedonism of Old-Timers to the no-nonsense technical competition of those pushing the cutting edge. Yet sometimes the approaches seem closer than they appear. On a downwind Fat chase recently we spotted two ships circling together: a barn-door old Texaco and a sleek FAI ship. We shut off the bike and sat quietly, watching them float in formation to cloudbase, and for an instant it felt as if our old friend "Boomer Thermal" was softly chuckling.
Propeller Pitch Clarification
If you struggled with the pitch/diameter ratio I discussed last column, consider this simple scaling example: a familiar 6-inch-diameter by 3-inch-pitch V4 propeller, when enlarged to twice scale, becomes a 12-inch diameter propeller with a 6-inch pitch — not a 3-inch pitch. Understanding that pitch scales with linear enlargement makes other pitch-related concepts clearer.
When responding to advertisers, mention that you read about them in Model Aviation.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
